Car FYI

Lando Norris in Friday Practice (Photo Credit: Pirelli & C. S.p.A.) Qualifying for the 2025 Australian Grand Prix has provided the first competitive showing for what is the new, hotly anticipated Formula 1 campaign. In setting the grid for the 58-lap race, the cars belonging to the 2024 Constructors’ champion McLaren demonstrated a desire to realize even more greatness this season. Lando Norris secured pole position on the eve of the opening round for the new season by wheeling his McLaren around the 5.278-kilometer Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in blistering 1-minute, 15.096-second lap. The British driver knocked his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri off the top of the time chart disrupting what might have been a home crowd triumph for the Australian inside the #81 car. With Q3 times separated by 0.084 seconds, the McLaren MCL39 lock up the front row of the 2025 Australian Grand Prix. Norris’ pole-scoring time of 1-minute, 15.096-second lap time was 0.819 seconds faster than Max Ver...

Photo Credit: LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd. Saturday’s qualifying for the inaugural Formula 1 race in the Arab nation of Qatar has assembled what is certain to be a dramatic opening lap showdown between this season’s title contenders Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. In setting the grid for Sunday’s 57-lap main event on the fast, high grip 5.380-kilometer Losail International Circuit, it was the driver of the #44 Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team race car that took honours. Lewis Hamilton’s pole-winning lap time of 1-minute, 20.827 seconds in the final Q3 session putting a cap on a time trial where the seven-time World Drivers’ Champion handily controlled through the three sessions. Joining Hamilton on the front row of the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix will be Max Verstappen’s Red Bull Racing machine. The Honda-powered entrant was 0.455 seconds slower than the rival Mercedes race car. With the race at Losail being the t...

Photo Credit: Unnamed Photographer/Pirelli untitled In Formula 1's last race in Monza, the sport’s long-running McLaren Racing team completed its gradual return to the top echelon of the sport when Daniel Ricciardo spectacularly took the Italian Grand Prix . Lando Norris finishing second reinforced McLaren’s triumph with the 21-year-old British driver comforted by the likeliest case scenario that he’s in the early stage of a long career in Formula 1 where he stands close to his own success. While that was a thought two weekends ago in Italy, Norris wasted little time after the strong Italian Grand Prix performance to add a major professional milestone. Rain prior to Saturday’s qualifying at the 5.848-kilometer Sochi Autodrom for the 53-lap Russian Grand Prix made the time trial session tricky for competitors. The showers were so heavy that they caused the cancellation of the third and final practice earlier in the day but qualifying took place af...

Photo Credit: Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd. untitled While a 1-2 qualifying lock out by the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team was a common occurrence during previous Formula 1 seasons, this team accomplishment is a rarer sight in this current year of racing. Qualifying at the Hungaroring for the 36 th Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix race weekend has resulted in just the second instance where Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas were able to place their machine on the front row together in 2021. On a very hot 4.381-kilometer (2.722-mile) course where track temperatures were recorded as high as 54 degrees Celsius (129.2 degrees Fahrenheit) on Saturday prior to the session, latest battle between Mercedes-AMG and Red Bull Racing transpired for the prime starting position. On this weekend, Lewis Hamilton charged in the early stage of Q3 to take his 101 st career Formula 1 pole for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Lapping the Hungaroring in 1 minute and 15.419 secon...

Photo Credit: Chris Jones For three decades, Indy-style car racing has been an ingredient of summertime in Toronto (well, somewhat less last year since the race was positioned in June to accommodate the 2015 Pan-Am Games but the race was still held in reasonably warm temperatures). The 30th edition of the Toronto street race within Exhibition Place arrived with sensational momentum as current IndyCar stars including Canadian and 2016 Indy 500 pole sitter James Hinchcliffe prepared for the Verizon IndyCar Series’ only stop outside of the United States for 2016. Serving as the main event for the 2016 Honda Indy Toronto, the Verizon IndyCar Series 85-lap race on Sunday was set by the outcome of Saturday afternoon qualifying. Contending on a refreshed street course design for 2016 created as a result of construction within the event grounds, the pit road was most notably shifted from the right side of the track to the left side. The pit road location movement has also prepared to ...

Photo Credit: Chris Jones The Indianapolis 500 is set to take place for the 99th time as a Memorial Day weekend classic. Prior to racing for 500 miles on the famed 2.5-mile oval track, Verizon IndyCar drivers need to qualify for the event. To earn their starting positions, Honda and Chevrolet supported race machines would be set loose for a four-lap qualifying run with the pole position being the most coveted spot. For 2015, the qualifying format at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's most prestigious event underwent a forced restructuring. Persistent rain soaking the bricks Saturday prevented the planned qualifying format for the Indianapolis 500. After rescheduling all qualifying activity for Sunday, Ed Carpenter's crash in a morning practice caused another revision to the Indy 500 time trials. While Carpenter did not suffer injury from the accident, a late decision was made to amend the technical guidelines for the qualifying. Te...